TABLE tennis star Will Bayley has had his Rio 2016 spot rubber-stamped after being named in Great Britain's 12-strong squad.
The Poole-born ace, the class seven world number one, won silver at London 2012 after losing out to Germany's Jochen Wollmert in the final.
The 28-year-old Bayley went on to lift the world title in 2014 and will hope to add Paralympic gold to his CV in Brazil this summer.
He told the Paralympics GB website: “Being selected for another Paralympic Games means everything to me – it's my life. I love table tennis and to be selected to compete for your country at a Paralympic Games is the pinnacle of any player’s career.
“London was special. It sometimes felt like an out of body experience but I performed well under tremendous pressure. I learnt so much and feel stronger mentally because of it.”
Performance director Gorazd Vecko added: “Four years ago nine players qualified for London and we now have 12 players qualified for Rio so we are in a better position than in 2012 when we won four medals.
“Our target is four to six medals and we are on track to achieve that. For the first time we have two athletes who are world number one in their class and we have three other players in the top five in the world."
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